Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Primary Arms has been delivering some truly amazing optic values to the market and I personally have been nothing but impressed with the three optics I have tested from them including this one. Their FFP 4-14 MilDot scope is excellent as is their original red dot sights. Now it appears Primary Arms is going after an even higher tier of red dot optics with the introduction of its own 50K hour Micro Dot.

Let’s all jointly confess that we all wish we could have $650 Aimpoint Micro Dots on our short range AR15s all the way down to our little .22 hot rodded Ruger 10/22s, but I for one just do not have the cash. Primary Arms saw and opportunity and again worked with its overseas manufacturers to deliver a solution and the result was the $169 PA Advanced Micro Dot - PA MD-ADS.

FIT, FINISH, FEEL, FEATURES, & FUNCTIONS

I am aware of the well deserved reputation of the Aimpoint MicroDot sights and sincerely believe that you should always use top end optics on defensive gun. That noted, I must admit that for most of us mortals that just want yet another red dot for yet another gun, it would be hard to justify the difference in price.

Primary Arms has delivered a very nice red dot with the MD-ADS that we all can actually afford. The Aimpoint admittedly has just a bit crisper dot, marginally better clarity, and the 80ft waterproof construction vs the Primary Arms 2 meter waterproof rating. For a $450 difference, those are the only justifiable points I could clearly concede to the Aimpoint for the buyer wanting a less expensive Aimpoint MicroDot alternative.

For 90% of non-military and LEO shooters, I could not justify the price difference without having honest second thoughts. I know many LEO and Military folks who have to buy red dots if they were not specifically issued. I see this sight as a great option for those folks who cannot drop $650 on a red dot sight. Despite its price the Primary Arms MD-ADS is a very well made sight backed by a three year warranty.

Comparing the Aimpoint T-1 with the PA MD-ADS, both have a very precise non-splashy dot, both run for approximately 50K hours on a single CR2032 battery, both share the same mounting bolt pattern, and both feature an extremely clear view and high light transmission. Comparing the PA unit to the T-1, the heft of both designs are similar.

Some of the abuse testing videos listed on the Primary Arms PA MD-ADS product page are down right amazing and frankly rival any similar testing I have seen of the Aimpoint Micro Dots.

I have only owned and tested the Primary Arms sight for about six months and it has yet to break or lose zero and it has never been shut off. I am far from the approximate 2000 days/50K hour runtime of this sight, however most sights batteries would have gone dark by now, but the MD-ADS is still glowing.

For this test, I mounted the sight with one of Primary Arms own Radial Firearms co-witness mounts onto my custom take-down AR15. This MCC Machine AR15 was custom painted with a water droplet technique with Brownells Aluma-Hyde II by yours truly and features a Copper Customs Dolos quick detach hand guard.

I figured out that the original aluminum handguard on the Dolos system was the same diameter of a Clark Carbon Fiber Tube and could be easily attached with 2-Ton Devcon epoxied in place. With a pencil barrel, carbon fiber handguard and lightweight Rogers stock, the entire rifle is an exceptionally light pack and travel rifle which tucks equally well in my 5.11 Moab Rush pack or my Leather overnight duffle. I wanted a durable simple and light red dot with a very long run time and the PA MD-ADS fits the requirement nicely without breaking the bank.

There are a number of really cool features I especially like about the Primary Arms Advanced Micro Dot. There is a waterproof spare battery holder built into the battery compartment cover. When you do actually run out of battery power, you have a backup battery right there in the cap. I find the top rubber clicky buttons easier to use through the 12 brightness settings than a rotary control. The idea to copy the same mount bolt pattern as the Aimpoints allows Primary Arms Advanced Micro Dot buyers the option to choose from the huge array of aftermarket Aimpoint compatible mounts available in the market instead of being locked into one proprietary mount. Let’s face it all the really cool and durable mounts on the market have been designed for the Aimpoint Micro Dots, so it is wonderful flexibility to be able to use these for mounting.

Of particular note is the crispness of the dot. Previously Aimpoint had a corner on delivering a really crisp dot, but now we are seeing many other companies such as Primary Arms deliver a great looking dot. The Bushnell TRS-25 has made a name for itself as a rugged little $80 red dot, however the dot is pretty splashy sometimes with the look of a “J” versus a “dot” which delivers less precision. For twice the money the Primary Arms MD-ADS is much more than twice the sight. The clarity is better, the dot is amazing well defined, and the you will notice the emitter is not visible in the ocular as it usually is on most red dot sights. Hiding the emitter within the ocular delivers a wider and less obstructed field of vision.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The Primary Arms Advanced Micro Dot MD-ADS really is an amazingly full featured and well built sight for the money. My sight has been knocked around a bit in my pack and on overnight trips and has not had an issue. Granded I am not abuse testing the sight by dragging it behind a car like some of the videos on their sight, but it has survived some pretty hard knocks in my care none-the-less. Time will tell whether the durability matches up to much more expensive red dots. One thing is for certain, the sight is definitely good enough from my perspective to adorn all those extra AR15 rifles and pistols. It has an affordable red dot and the price allows me to buy four PA MD-ADS for the price of just one Aimpoint Micro Dot. The waterproof, shockproof, and long running sight certainly seems to be more than up to the task for LEO and military who are on a budget and have to buy their own optics. Yet again one of the deals in the market that is backed by a three year warranty.

SPECS

Primary Arms Advanced Micro Dot with Push Buttons and up to 50K-Hour Battery Life

Our best-selling red dot model, the MD-ADS features up to 50,000 hours of battery life from the included CR2032 battery and an ultra-sharp 2 MOA dot. Top mounted push buttons adjust the 12 brightness settings from night vision compatible to daylight bright.

This tough optic is waterproof, with a 3 year warranty.

The included 1913 Picatinny base is removable and the scope body is compatible with any industry standard Micro mount system.

Tuesday, December 29, 2015

If you are long time reader of MajorPandemic.com then you know that I consistantly and heavily advocate for the Barnes Precision Machine AR15s. A reader might ask why amidst an avalanche of reviewed, customized and one-off custom AR15s, why I keep going back to Barnes? There are certainly fancier or cooler looking ARs and parts, however BPM continues to deliver the best value for a buyer of anything I have found on the market all paired with sub-MOA match grade precision. My BPM-15s outshoot the vast majority of my upgraded guns. In fact my BPM rifles have even outshot some of my own full on insanely custom rifles. Just one reason why I voted the BPM rifle as top rifle in my Best Budget AR15 Shootout. The BPM rifles are far from standard and are exceptional shooting guns for the price.

Last year Barnes Precision added AR15 pistols to the model line up as exceptional sport and defense tools - I had to have one. Beyond a review of the BPM-15 Pistol, this article is also the first to showcase the $225 NP3 Parts Upgrade package available from Barnes Precision Machine for any AR15 rifle or pistol.

WHO IS BPM - WHY BARNES PRECISION MACHINE?

Generally as a reviewer of a continuous stream of AR15 rifles, I have to strain a bit to understand the benefits X brand delivers vs Y brand... because in most cases 99% of AR15 manufacturers all use the same parts from the same OEM manufacturers. Barnes is one of those OEM manufacturers in the list who makes parts for the biggest names in the industry.

With nearly every part being made in house Barnes has the ability to assure every part they use comes together in the highest quality optimal fashion. The result is a tighter fitting and feeling rifle with a higher potential for better accuracy.

Barnes has both the build and part quality perfect, however what sets them apart is the 100% in house production (excluding springs, trigger, and furniture). There are only about four manufacturers in the US which are actually making 95% of the AR15 parts in house - LMT, Daniel Defense, Colt, and Barnes Precision however there are a few others starting to pop up here and there. There even smaller handful of manufacturers like Barnes who are actually making detents, take-down pins, forward assists, bolts, and carriers - yes insanely Barnes turns their own freaking tiny little spring detents.

BPM DOES NOT DO IT BECAUSE IT’S COOL

Many manufacturers are creating ARs and AR accessories because they look cooler than the original. Do they work better? No, generally it is about blinging out your AR versus adding any real level of performance. Barnes Precision takes a different route with the belief that the overall AR15 platform and design is excellent as it, but some smart tweaks can make it exponentially better without huge cost increases which still maintain the integrity of a Mil-Spec rifle.

They add in real honest and true AR15 functional innovation improvements which do make their BPM-15 better vs prettier. Little things on Barnes make a difference like a captured take-down detent spring that does not go flying out when you remove the buffer tube, a tight receiver to receiver fit that can even be tightened with an internal receiver tension screw, a sub-MOA match grade barrel included even in their least expensive rifles, and softer shooting mid-length gas systems.

BPM includes their own Barnes NiBo - Nickel-Boron coated Bolt Carrier Group and very nice lockable hard sided Patriot Case with die cut foam inserts for no additional charge. Currently BPM offers factory direct rifle/pistol buyers the opportunity to purchase a Leupold optics at distributor price. Depending on the optic, that along could be incentive enough to purchase a BPM rifle even if you do not use the optic on a BPM rifle.

There are other innovative design concepts which BPM pioneered to improve reliability and durability of the AR15 platform. The in-house made bolt’s cam pin hole is reamed versus being peened which increases the strength of the bolt. BPM designed the first long extended barrel nut design for free-float handguards which does not require indexing, allows perfect torquing of the barrel, and delivers a significantly stronger rigid handguard (in my opinion it is the most solid in the industry). The design is so rigid that certain Military units are using the handguard to mount precision sighting systems. BPM was also the first in the industry to offer NP3 coating on AR15s not because it was cool looking, but because it protected all those typical phosphate coated parts from rust and corrosion in a marine environment. Of course all these great features are included in the BPM-15 Pistol as well.

Almost all of BPM’s product development is in joint collaboration with military and law enforcement. During the period when BPM was just making AR15 parts, that collaboration led to the push for the development of the BPM rifle, the unique and rigid handguard system as well as the NP3 coating. BPM also went back to those military and law enforcement teams during the development of the BPM AR15 pistol. There are reasons for each feature on every rifle and their AR15 pistol design which amount to a firearm far higher quality than the price would indicate.

NOT JUST ANOTHER AR15 PISTOL

Back in 2014, I had several discussions with Andrew Barnes (President BPM) around his newly released AR15 pistols. His perspective was that he did not want to offer an AR15 pistol because everyone else had one, he wanted to assure it could be a tool for military, law enforcement and civilians from a practical perspective. With the rise of the Sig Brace and civilian comfort with Trusts to register SBR - Short Barreled Rifles he believed there was a niche. Input from his military and LEO contacts really wanted a fast AR15 pistol or SBR which could get in and out of vehicles fast with all the same features as the BPM-15 rifle including very good accuracy. College campus security wanted something light and fast which could address terroristic threat on campus, but be light and small enough to carry every day on the golf carts and Segways used on campuses.

The base of the pistol is exactly the same as their rifles, but with a shorter 7.5” match grade barrel, shorter handguard, and Sig Brace with extended buffer tube. The result is a civilian legal short, fast and powerful defensive and sport pistol that is a tool versus an AR15 pistol toy.

The handguard for instance is not the cool looking extended over muzzle length style because the handguard length is sized to assure clearance of any muzzle device or suppressor without worrying about handguard interference. Barnes also used a heavier barrel to assure it could the demands of sustained continuous fire versus a faster heating thin skinny barrel. Instead of just slipping a Sig Brace on the back of a standard pistol buffer tube, BPM used a KAK buffer tube to provide a more comfortable shooter platform with the Sig Brace. The end result is a tight, well thought out AR15 pistol which is useable out of the box as a defense and shorting tool, but can be easily converted to a shoulder stocked SBR with the properly acquired tax stamp.

BARNES PRECISION MACHINE - BPM ROBAR NP3 & MELONITED MARINE AR15

Almost every other manufacturer who offers some fancy diamond hard finish are only at best delivering a upper and lower receiver with a really hard finish. The problem is that they are coating the hard anodized items which are already the most impervious to corrosion. Hard anodizing is extremely impervious the corrosion. When only focusing on the receivers, all the other phosphate parts are left exposed which can rust of corrode quickly in a marine or wet environment. Barnes was the first to offer 100% NP3 coated firearms with the receivers plus every other part housed in the receiver plus the flash hider being NP3 coated. Now they are offering another upgrade option for any BPM or other AR15 owner which addresses all the venerable phosphated parts - Enter the BPM NP3 Parts Upgrade Package.

The package includes NP3 coated trigger assembly pins, a trigger set, ejection door components, forward assist components, charging handle, the selector, the take-down and pivot-pins, the springs, castle nut, egg plate, even the detents, the handguard bolts, barrel nut, crush washer, and flash hider are are treated. Yep every phosphated part on the receivers. On my model, the stainless match barrel, gas block and gas tube are Nitrocarburization treated (AKA Melonited) inside and out which better than chrome because it delivers superior corrosion resistance and does not degrade accuracy like chrome can.

In the end, the coatings deliver a totally corrosion resistant AR. All this was done not to deliver the stunning custom looking AR15 it has become, but the reason was simply to increase corrosion performance around salt water environments - Andrew Barnes was quick to point out "the cool factor is only a side benefit…. it's all about performance."

FINAL THOUGHTS

My testing did not center around testing accuracy perse, but testing the pistol for what it was designed for - fast shooting on man sized targets from 0-300 yards. For this task, I attached an Israeli Mepro 21 sight which has proven itself easy in combat environments as one of the best combat reflex sights on the market. My Mepro 21 features the triangle dual (fiber optic and tritium) illuminated reticle. Frankly I love this optic and proved perfect for this BPM15 Pistol.

The extremely stiff BPM hand guard directly accepts standard Magpul MOE bolt on rails. I added one short rail on the left side to clip on my favorite Rogers Rail Light and I had a really nice setup for home defense use.

Once I established a 25-yard zero and confirmed no additional tweaks were needed at 300 yards, I started having A LOT of fun. Unfortunately I will note, 300 rounds goes by really really.... really fast. You have been warned that if you buy one of these little AR pistols, they are a blast to shoot.

With my steel Action Targets set up at 25, 100, 200 and 300 yards, I was extremely impressed how easy the Barnes pistol was to shoot. They had done their homework with all the design points I previously incorporated into my custom AR15 pistol build. Head shots at 200-yards anyone? Yep I was able to keep my hostage 6” swinger swaying on the 200-yard line. Of course I missed a few shots here and there, however for an AR15 Pistol, this and a serious pistol for serious work whether that be defense or sport.

AR15 pistols are of course just as legal and easy to acquire as any other handgun through your local FFL. An AR15 pistol is a great path to acquiring a Short Barrel Rifle complete with any rifle shoulder stock you might want. A buyer can purchase and enjoy the AR15 pistol while waiting for ATF SBR tax stamp to come through and then swap out the Sig Brace for a rifle stock. I cannot wait to push my SBR stamp through on this build to convert from pistol to Short Barrel Rifle.

I do have a couple gripes which includes the need for a QD-sling egg plate or some other manner of attachment on the Sig Brace to attach a sling to the rear of the gun. Barnes certainly offers QD Egg Plates, and I think in this case they need to be included. Since there is so much sensitivity around the Sig Brace, I personally am not sure it is legal to even drill a hole in the side for a sling. The other issue is the massive blast any AR15 pistol delivers including this one. The only two things I have found to decrease this deafening boom are suppressors or sound redirection brakes such as the PWS CQB or a Krinkov style brake. I would love to see a Barnes twist on one of these devices added to the pistol in the future.

About a year ago, back in 2014, I was very skeptical of the usefulness of an AR15 pistol in the home and urban environment. Today I stand converted. Once I shoot a well designed AR15 pistol and realize how quick the gun is for urban home interiors, I began to believe that the AR15 pistol is actually the best home defense option that combines the accuracy, power and capacity of the AR15 with the maneuverability of a pistol. This BPM-15 pistol embodies that concept perfectly.

Tuesday, December 22, 2015

I remember years and years ago, back in the late 1980s, I read an article centered around an editor who had sent off his Ruger 10/22 to Clark Custom Guns for a rework and rebarrel - Clark Custom Guns had named the conversion the “Squirrel Special”. The Clark converted Ruger 10/22 featured with a Clark tuned extractor, trigger, and bolt, a Clark 16.25” bull barrel and the factory stock had been let out to accommodate the barrel. I remember the article displayed these tiny little .25”-.50” groups at 50-yards… I wanted one really bad. A few years later the idea was still in my mind as I marched into my local gun dealer and laid down cash for a walnut stocked Ruger 10/22 Sporter. I had every intention that the rifle would eventually undergo the same Clark transformation I had read about.

As time passed and I created the dozen or so Ultimate Ruger 10/22 custom builds you may have read about, I continued to still yearn for a Clark barrel and finally placed an order for a stainless fluted 16.25 10/22 barrel. A month later I had my gorgeous barrel in hand.

Beyond the above history of that first 1980s article, Clark really was the first to offer a “production” hot rodded Ruger 10/22 and the first to have real match grade barrels. In many ways they started this whole accurize my 10/22 thing which is now an industry segment itself. Today Clark Custom Guns continues to deliver that same groundbreaking accuracy with several barrel profiles and lengths all based on Lothar-Walther blanks chambered with Clark’s proprietary match reamer. The company also offers many other 10/22 upgrade parts included their own tuned trigger, extractor, magazine release, barreled actions, and speed bolt release as well as full custom services.

FIT, FINISH, FEEL, FEATURES

The finish on the barrel is just stunning with every inch of the barrel being flawless including the deep barrel fluting. Initially I was going to slip the barrel into my Ruger Sporter stock which already had the stock let out for a bull barrel, however I thought this barrel deserved something a bit more glamourous and it has taken a while.

This build has been a bit of a transition and work in process. Added to the Clark Custom Guns 16.25” fluted stainless match grade barrel was a Ruger BX 10/22 trigger, and Tactical Innovations blue anodized upper receiver with one of their match bolts and a Victor Company stock. The build deserves a better match trigger. The Ruger BX 10/22 trigger is drastically better than a stock Ruger trigger, however I just have not done the upgrade to a match trigger yet.

Unlike many other aftermarket match grade barrels I did not have to reach for the sandpaper to get the barrel to fit into my Tactical Innovations receiver or when test fit in a spare factory Ruger receiver I had laying around. For the home DIY 10/22 builder, Clark made it easy and did not intentionally oversize the barrel to require hand fitting. With a bull barrel inlet stock, the install and swap could take a little as a five minutes and could not have been easier.

Of note, Clark makes a note that the barrel “Increases semi-automatic feeding and function, as well as, accuracy and reliability. “ My experience with the barrel was flawless functioning which I can tell you from experience is not always the case with “match grade barrels”. Clark has taken a lot of time to do the research and chamber tuning to both maximize accuracy and improve reliability which resulted in their own proprietary reamer. The general theory in the industry is that if you want to improve accuracy, the chamber should be tighter which in turn creates problems with reliability and feeding.

Another issue is that match chambers are so tight that the extractor cannot remove a live round and unspent rounds must instead be rammed out of the barrel. This can be a significant safety issue which I am always swearing about with my Volquartsen and Kidd barrels. On hunts it it wildly inconvenient. The Clark chamber allows everything to work just as a factory barrel and extraction of live rounds are no issue… but of course all while delivering greatly improved accuracy.

ACCURACY

There are those match barrels which I have to work at to find the right ammo, but the Clark barrel was a consistent shooting barrel regardless of ammo. Even CCI Standard Velocity delivered very consistent sub-.5” 50-yard groups. Of course my barrel did have its favorites and I am now down into the .25” group range at 50-yards thanks to the Clark barrel and Lapua eXact match rounds - a trigger upgrade would definitely improve that further. Each time I take this rifle out my groups get smaller and smaller.

FINAL THOUGHTS

In a sea of $150 aftermarket heavy barrels the $350 Clark barrel I have featured here may seem on the expensive side, however Clark has plenty of options. Clark does offer a $225 blued bull barrel option without the fluting which is in the same price range as Kidd barrels. Stainless barrels, fluting, and threading are all options that bump up the price.

The Clark barrels are definitely in the same class from an accuracy perspective as Volquartsen, Kidd, Hart, and Feddersen, but with the shooter friendly chambering like the Feddersen which also has no live-round extraction issue. My experience is that the Volquartsen and Kidd all require a bit of fitting, can be finicky with feeding initially, and have a tight chamber which can impact reliability and live-round extraction. The Clark delivers all the beautiful esthetics of its competition, arguably identical accuracy, but with a more DIY user friendly design.

The Clark is not a run-of-the-mill barrel, Clark is using the same Lothar-Walther barrel blanks as Kidd, Volquartsen and Force who are all regarded as the best in the business… but then again Clark started this who 10/22 accuracy business back in the 1980s. It should not be surprising that they are still up at the top tier after all these years.

Tuesday, December 15, 2015

We all love PMAGs for our AR15s, right? So we were all super-duper excited when Magpul released the $15.95 G17 magazines. Well… and then they had a few issues with the G17 feeding issues in the smaller G19 and G29 pistols. Word of the problems spread like wildfire. Magpul quickly and very publically fell on their own sword to tell the world that they would in fact make things right and they did with those G17 magazines already in customer hands.

Magpul quickly released a new tuned generation to resolve those issues. Fast forward a year and we now have proven problem-free Magpul G17 magazines and recently also G19 magazines. After 500 problem-free rounds of the G19 magazines through Gen 2, Gen 3 and Gen 4 G19 and G26 Glocks, I am more than satisfied that they are reliable. The same goes for the new crop of Magpul G17 magazines as well. Magpul as clearly worked out the cross functional reliability issues on the magazines and now deliver the market a G17 and G19 magazine option which is half the price of original Glock magazines.

With the AR15 PMAG’s introduction, that groundbreaking design delivered a ton of features to a product which previously had none. Better handling, lighter weight and a true 30-round capacity were all notable features with arguably improved reliability. Later on, the windowed AR PMAGs also allowed us to see how full or empty our mags were.

With the Glock PMAGS already being polymer and bullet proof, Magpul had a bit of a legacy to live up to. From my perspective the Magpul mags have two primary advantages advantages over factory Glock PMAGS - a potential handling improvement and price.

I love Magpul however I am not so enamored with Magpul that I will say their mags are better than Glock factory mags with have themselves evolved and changes through many… many Glock design updates. The Magpul mags deliver a solid inexpensive drop-free magazine option for Glock owners with some extra grip on the base, paint pen matrix markable base, with an easier disassembly design. I can only presume that Magpul will deliver an easy swappable SPEEDPLATE for the Glock mags utilizing the easy disassembly of the Magpul Glock mags.

Lets also talk about what the Magpul Glock PMAGs are not. The factory Glock mags are hardened steel lined which in theory makes them stronger, they also extend less from the base of the magwell than the PMAGS and are a bit more compact. The factory mags also allow visual inspection of the approximate rounds loaded; the Magpul PMAG only shows whether the mag is fully loaded with a single window on either side of the magazine. Sorry folks, at this point until Magpul has some yet to be revealed new model with ammo windows, the factory Glock mags are the only option to view how much ammo is in the mag.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I know Magpul would like me to espouse all the extra features about the Glock PMAGs, however plainly put I like that I now have a reliable Glock magazine option that is half the price. For me it comes down to the fact that I can buy a dozen Glock PMAGS for $200 versus just six factory Glock mags. They are reliable, will drop free, and even add a bit of improvements in the handling department. I am still excited about PMAGS not only for my AR15s but also for my 9mm Glocks now as well.